Web Design » Photoshop » How Do I Change My Scratch Disk Without Opening Photoshop?

How Do I Change My Scratch Disk Without Opening Photoshop?

Last updated on September 24, 2022 @ 1:25 pm

If you’re working in Photoshop on a file that’s getting too large or complex for your computer to handle, you may need to change your scratch disk. Photoshop uses your scratch disk to store information temporarily as it works on a file. The scratch disk is where Photoshop saves information about the image you’re working on, as well as any history states and undo information.

By default, Photoshop uses your system drive (usually the C: drive) as the scratch disk, but you can change it to any other internal or external hard drive connected to your computer. You can even use multiple hard drives if you have them.

To change your scratch disk in Photoshop, go to Edit > Preferences > Performance. In the Memory Usage section, you’ll see a drop-down menu next to “Scratch disks. “ By default, this is set to “Let Photoshop use 70% of my RAM”.

You can leave it at this setting, or you can select a specific hard drive from the drop-down menu. If you have multiple hard drives connected to your computer, you can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key while clicking on the drives you want to use. Once you’ve selected all the drives you want to use as scratch disks, click “OK” to save your changes.

Conclusion:

Changing your scratch disk in Photoshop is a quick and easy way to free up space on your system drive and improve performance. Be sure to select all the drives you want to use as scratch disks before clicking “OK” to save your changes.

PRO TIP: If you are not familiar with the Photoshop preferences, do not attempt to change the scratch disk without opening Photoshop first. Incorrectly changing the scratch disk settings can result in data loss or corruption.
Kathy McFarland

Kathy McFarland

Devops woman in trade, tech explorer and problem navigator.